Note: This theory will make use of Freudian theory. While I
recognize that Freud’s ideas do not bear much contemporary relevance, that
shouldn’t take away from the fact that many of his concepts (i.e erogenous
zones, childhood memory repression, catharsis) are nonetheless employed by Hima
in the series. The purpose of this post is to give some insight into the
psychologies of the characters.

Terminology I’ll go over: Psychosexual stages, causality, regression, fixation.

Yes, that’s right. Freud’s ideas are very much prevalent in the series. A big area of his work was analyzing the impact of childhood on personality development. Freud believed in causality, meaning that who you are as an adult can be directly traced back to your childhood.

How you’re parented and
brought up is the most crucial factor. I don’t need to go into this in too much
detail, but basically, we go through five stages of development titled: Oral,
anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

For this specific post, we
only need to focus on the early stages of development, which focus on sensual
(sensory) pleasure and stimulation, often for the purposes of soothing and
experiencing relief.

Each stage has corresponding needs. If these needs are not met (under-gratification) or
if they are too easily met (over-gratification), then the person develops a
fixation.

A fixation essentially means that the person is
stuck at that level of development, which causes them to develop a problematic
personality type.

However, it’s only when that individual is met with
confrontation or a stressful situation that they regress back
to the stage in which they developed this fixation. The stress causes them to
revert back to the age where their needs weren’t met, and as such, adopt
childish behaviours.

For example, if you get into an argument with someone and they
start behaving selfishly, like a toddler, then you have every right to poke fun
at them for having Daddy or Mommy issues. Or, there are those who bite their
nails and pick at their lips, something akin to the soothing acquired from sucking
one’s thumb as a child.

Where Prussia Fits into This: 

Prussia
appears to be fixated at the anal stage of development, yes anal – ahem, moving
on.

During this stage, children
from 18 months to about 3-4 years undergo a struggle for autonomy. This is the
first point in a child’s life that they have control and an awareness over their
body. What Freud specifically focused on was bowel movements; a biological
need.

Potty training, for most
toddlers, threatens to impinge on the control they’ve only just recently gained
over their body. Some toddlers refuse to let themselves be potty trained and
just go whenever they want, as if they were an infant. Others, through the
encouragement and praise of supportive parents, learn to regulate themselves
when they go to the bathroom.

How a child is parented during this phase is crucial to the type
of personality they’ll develop later in adulthood. Children who are shamed and
ridiculed if they have “accidents” develop an anal-explosive personality type. The over-gratification occurs when the child purposefully has an accident in response to their parents’ hostility.

A
child who is under-gratified still opposes their parents’ authority, but they hold their accident matter in. They refuse to go potty. This leads to the formation of an anal-retentive
personality type.

Prussia embodies aspects of both anal personality types. We have
little knowledge over how he was parented, however, we do get enough insight
into what his childhood experience was like. Rather than having shame and
ridicule imposed onto him by someone else, it’s self-inflicted.

For his whole life, he’s struggled to survive having been
surrounded by larger powers [x]. 

He constantly adopted new titles and territories
to ensure his existence.

This constant struggle to survive would explain why he has such
a large ego, even from a young age. His self-image is fragile, so he talks big
to reaffirm the strength that he desires to have and occasionally possesses
from time to time.

He wants praise because he likely hardly ever received it. 

Notice how selective Prussia’s journal entries are. He doesn’t
acknowledge times where he was weak and only takes note of the “awesome”
moments of his life.

One last example of this fragile self image is more implicit.
Prussia’s use of language is highly political; the use of specific words are subtle,
but the meaning behind them are extremely important.

When Frederick I implores Prussia to become a stronger power in
Europe in light of their faltering industries and lacking culture, Prussia’s
confidence is at an all-time low. Nevertheless, he stubbornly, if not
desperately insists that his clothes are still “cool”.

The arc then proceeds to follow Prussia as he studies France’s
blooming culture. There, Prussia learns to equate aristocratic clothing with
strength.

 After improving his nation and acquiring aristocratic clothing himself, pay attention to how Prussia’s use of language shifts. He and his clothes
are no longer just cool; they’re
awesome, if not “cooler”. Further, his self-confidence is notably stronger here.

[Side note: France switches back and forth between thinking that nice clothes = strength in this arc.]

For Prussia, it’s not so much about the specifics of this stage,
but rather the underlying theme of it. Anally-fixated persons struggle with issues
of mastery and control. They’re stubborn and don’t like authority being imposed
onto them. Put another way, they do things their own way, and when they lack
the autonomy to have control over their lives, it has a huge impact on their
self-esteem.

It’s like a toddler that pouts. They want independence from
their parents, and when this isn’t recognized, they feel inadequate and
helpless. They also tend to get defensive and throw tantrums, as would a child who doesn’t get their way. 

Isn’t that exactly what happens with Prussia? Before he grew
strong under Frederick I, the confidence he asserted was weak and delusional –
he didn’t really believe that he was strong, but was too insecure to openly
admit to this. After gaining strength, his ego respectively grew.

It would follow, then, that after losing to Napoleon, Prussia
goes back to wallowing in self-pity. Again, he appears to deny how grim his situation
is, and desperately tries to convince himself otherwise despite the fact that Holy
Rome is on his death bed.

Likewise, once Prussia gains back this power in the years
leading up to German Unification, his confidence resurfaces. It’s all about
control and mastery over himself. This mastery extends as Prussia continues in aiming to be
the strongest nation, the best of the best.

He’s the center-fielder, just like a toddler is the center of
their own world. 

This doesn’t mean to say that Prussia doesn’t care about
others, because it’s quite the opposite [I’ll get into that in a moment]. It
just means to say that during times of stress and anxiety, Prussia regresses
into this immature, unrealistic, and delusional perception of the world and how
it works.

Let’s end this by going over some of the anal-type personality traits that Prussia embodies.

Personality Traits:

 An anal-expulsive
character is messy, cruel, and destructive. They can also be generous and
creative.

As seen in the examples above, Prussia is [self]-destructive.
When he’s feeling down, he deludes himself by vocalizing the contrary.

Ex: He claims that he likes being single, despite crying at the
sight of Hungary and Austria on Christmas.

 He’s generous.

 Ex: He reads fairy tales to a dying Holy Rome. I can’t imagine how
hard that must have been on him.

 Ex: He selflessly steps in to protect Germany when he’s first born.

 He’s creative.

 Ex: He’s a great inventor.

 Ex: He plays the flute.

On the other hand, an anal-retentive character is a stingy
perfectionist. They are also obstinate, neat, and orderly.

Prussia is just as neat as Germany.

Ex: They both keep their uniforms spick and span.

Ex: Coming from a strict military background, Prussia is also
orderly. He’s a very structured person.

 With all that said, there’s a much more nuanced meaning behind
Prussia’s egotism. It’s more of an act stemming from his hidden insecurities,
than it is a reflection of his true self. He’s a selfless person who comes across as selfish.